Despite coming under fire from members of Congress, American businessman and pharma exec Martin Shkreli continues to show his defiance by choosing to berate the lawmakers through social media.
Shkreli appeared before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to face allegations that he and his former company Turing Pharmaceuticals purposely raised the price of their anti-infective drug Daraprim to take advantage of people who depend on the treatment.
The former hedge fund manager invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and remained silent throughout the hearing while legislators proceeded to lambaste his character.
After the proceeding, however, Shkreli sent out a message through Twitter where he spoke of his frustration regarding the matter.
Hard to accept that these imbeciles represent the people in our government.
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) February 4, 2016
Benjamin Brafman, who serves as Shkreli's legal counsel, said his client's tweet was "unfortunate," stating that it was borne out of Shkreli's frustration exploding at the time.
He adds that Shkreli's choice of words in the social media post was regrettable, and that his client will no longer provide interviews to the media.
For the most part, Shkreli has maintained his innocence regarding the allegations of federal securities fraud thrown at him in relation to one of his old companies, Retrophin Inc. as well as a number of hedge funds he used to manage. Shkreli started Turing Pharmaceuticals after he left Retrophin.
During his time as head of Turing, he guided the company in acquiring the drug Daraprim and raising its price to $750 for every pill. Shkreli stepped down as CEO and left Turing following the revelation of the federal charges.
Social Media Trolling
According to Brafman, Shkreli is a very intelligent person. However, he became frustrated after he found that the committee hearing was about learning the truth about the Daraprim issue.
Brafman said the lawmakers forced Shkreli to attend the proceeding so that they could berate him, which is something that the pharma exec resented.
Shkreli then chose to conduct another one of his public online chats where he said that the legislators are welcome to discuss the drug prices with him through the medium. He added that there is no sworn oath needed for the chat.
The pharma exec said members of the committee refused to allow Turing's chief commercial officer, Nancy Retzlaff, to answer their questions. He pointed out that the proceeding was just about an "advertisement" for the lawmakers.
"It's pathetic that they need me for publicity," Shkreli said. "The last thing they'd want is for me to testify because it would be embarrassing to them."
He went on to discuss his plan to develop life-saving treatments, banter with people and respond to his critics through the online chat.
Brafman referred to Shkreli as a "scientist" while speaking to the media on Thursday. He said that while Shkreli started out as a hedge fund manager, his work related to the development of drugs has given him the reputation as a "giant among the pharmaceutical geniuses."
